Matthew Cauz
CFL.ca
When it comes to putting together the power rankings and deciding where to slot two evenly matched teams I always try to think “right now.”
As in “right now if these two teams met who do I think would win?”
I look at how a particular team has been playing the past month and try to factor in any significant injuries that may have occurred. This is more of a micro way of ranking teams, it minimizes what they have done for the entire season and focuses heavily on the present.
Is this the fairest way of doing rankings? Probably not, but with the way this year has played out I have to cling onto some sort of ranking philosophy and stick with it, don’t I?
So with two weeks left and all six playoff spots firmly determined I decided to expand my horizons, embrace big picture thinking and look at who has been the best team through 16 games.
To do so I went back and looked at my rankings for every team, including my pre-season rankings. The scoring system is just like in golf, I add up each week’s ranking and the franchise with the lowest number wins.
Montreal: 1,1,1,1, 2, 4, 3, 2, Bye, 2, 5, 2, 4, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3 = 39
No team has spent more time in the top three than the Alouettes. Only once have they dipped out of the top half of the league and they still have a good chance to finish the season where they started, as the number one seed in the CFL.
I would definitely say that I have been a hard marker when it comes to Montreal, but the bar has been set so high for them, that looking back, I probably should have given them the benefit of the doubt after some of their losses.
Winnipeg: 4, 4, 4, 4, 3, 2, 1, 1, Bye, 1, 1, 3, 1, 3, 4, 3, 4, 2 = 45
Winnipeg has spent more weeks at the top of my board than any other team and is the only squad to have been ranked in the top half every week since the pre-season.
Of course some of that may have to do with the fact that I was in the minority in my pre-season rankings. I don’t know many people that had them slotted so high back in June. I never saw Swaggerville coming but I did see a playoff berth.
Calgary: 2, 2, 3, 3, 5, 5, 4, 3, Bye, 3, 4, 1, 3, 5, 3, 4, 5, 6 = 61
If we were ranking the teams in tiers this is where we would see the first drop off. I’m guessing I am not the only one disappointed with the Stampeders regular season given all they accomplished last year.
Looking at my rankings I’m shocked Calgary has spent only one week in the top spot. Beyond the loss of Ben Archibald I’m still trying to come up with a plausible reason for the drop off in the team’s offensive production. Calgary went from nearly 38 points per game to just over 25 this season despite bringing back most of lost year’s personnel.
Before I continue may I have a moment to have one quick non-statistical rant? I hope we have not seen the end of Henry Burris as a top echelon quarterback. His numbers really aren’t that bad; but Burris has just not been able to generate enough offence as the team’s leading signal caller.
It’s shocking sometimes how an athlete can go from the top of his craft to the backup within less than a calendar year. You see this phenomenon, a player going from all-world to over the hill, in football more than any other sport.
The violent nature of this game lends itself to short careers and guys leaving the game sooner than anyone would have expected.
Rarely do you get the opportunity to age gracefully in football. I have loved watching Burris dominate defences with his arm, legs and his mind and I hope to see it again soon.
Edmonton: 8, 7,2,2,1,1,2,4, Bye, 5, 2,4,2,4, 6, 5, 3, 4 = 62
You know you have had an interesting season when your team has spent at least one week ranked in every spot, a distinction that only the Eskimos can claim. Blame injuries for such wild market fluctuations. Much like Hamilton in the East, Edmonton has the widest range in terms of what to expect on the field.
B.C. Lions: 5, 6, 6, 7, 8, 8, 6, 6, Bye, 6, 6, 6, 5,1,1,1,1,1 = 80
The reason for writing this article, the B.C. Lions! My number one team in the league going into this week’s play is not even a top four team by this scoring system.
Just look at the overall drop off between the Eskimos and the Lions! I’m so glad I don’t gamble on football. Looking at the rankings from other sources not associated with CFL.ca I jumped on the Lions as my #1 bandwagon about two weeks earlier than anyone else and I am the only one who stubbornly have left them at the top.
I can’t believe how quickly the CFL Mathematical Formula has forsaken the once mighty Lions! Dropping them from second to sixth after one blowout loss! Here I was thinking I had taken over the market on knee jerk reactions.
Shame on you CFL computer, shame on you.
Hamilton: 7, 8, 8, 5, 4, 3, 5, 5, Bye, 4, 3, 5, 6, 6, 5, 6, 6, 5 = 91
Alright, at this moment I feel like Dave from ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ doing battle with HAL 9000. I know I don’t always see eye-to-eye with that soulless entity know as the CFL Mathematical Formula, but how can they have the Tiger-Cats at number one? This is a team that started slowly, has teased their fan base with the odd impressive win, but has yet to play a consistent month worth of football.
Oh for anyone under the age of 33 please consult your local video store about the film ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’. It’s really trippy, a lot of scenes will blow you away and you’ll walk away in a daze, confused about what you just saw, kind of like watching the 2011 Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
“What are you doing Marcel” … I’m guessing anyone born before 1980 just got that last joke.
Moving on.
Saskatchewan: 3, 5, 7, 8, 6, 6, 7, 7, Bye, 8, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 8, 8 = 115
I know I have made a ton of jokes about the Roughriders this year but in all honesty I’m bummed out with how the season has played out for Saskatchewan. From back-to-back Grey Cup appearances to the news that Darian Durant, Barrin Simpson and Andy Fantuz have been shut down for the final two weeks it really has been an epic collapse. Here’s hoping Fantuz and Rob Bagg are both starting next season and that Durant gets his mojo back.
The league is better off and way more fun when the Green & White are doing well.
Toronto: 6, 3, 5, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8, Bye, 7, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 7, 7 = 119
As an Argonauts fan I wish there was a way I could hit the reset button on the 2011 season.
